No Rick Nash, no free agent superstar signing expected in the off-season and no stud first-round-selection on the horizon.

Translation?

No playoffs again for a seventh straight hockey season and, thanks to the lockout year, an eighth straight spring.

It’s not hard to see why there is no hope in Leafs Nation.

But out at Crabby Joe’s Tap and Grill in Bolton, Maple Leafs fans do have one thing to look forward too.

Beer for $2, served with a smile from longtime staffer Megan Bowker and other smiling servers.

Since there will be no playoff games to draw in excited crowds, Crabby Joe’s owner Ryan Macor and partner Jon Shreeve are hoping to fill the place on the final night April 7 against the Montreal Canadiens which could be the battle for last place in the Eastern Conference.

“At the start of the season when the Leafs were toying with us with some playoff level hockey we had many people here during every game,” said Macor. “Since the monumental collapse the Leafs have not been drawing much of a crowd.”

So right now the sign out front on Highway 50 says “Golf Leafs Golf. $2 beer bottles during final game.”

They have to do something to make up for this lousy season.

If Leafs President Brian Burke thinks his job is tough, he ought to try to visit the small bars and restaurants which count on the team’s success.

“My last Leaf related sign change for this season” is “an attempt for a small business owner to make lemonade out of another season of Leaf lemons. The hospitality industry really relies on our local teams. So when for the Leafs can’t muster one playoff game in 8 years its hard not to be a little let down by Burke and Company,” Macor said.

Macor has tried his best all year to make this season into something.

“At the beginning of the season we ran a promotion that after every Leafs victory everyone in the bar would get a free burger coupon,” he said. “I have a few more left over than I was hoping for.”

His most controversial sign of the year was during the February fall off that saw the Leafs slide from a sure spot in the post season.

It said “Fire Ron Wilson, $2 Dom Bottles The day it happens.”

There were some happy customers on March 2nd when it happened.

“I hate to see anyone get fired,” explains Ryan. “The point we are trying to make is although I’m a long time leaf fan and bleed blue and white as a small business owner I don’t know if the Toronto Maple Leaf organization grasps just how important they are to the local economy. The rant from Burke about the self imposed trade deadline didn’t sit well with many fans. Any chance he has to make this team stronger at any point in the season needs be capitalized on. It may be stressful for all the parties involved but seven years in Toronto without playoff hockey is unacceptable. Someone has to pay for it.”

Ryan said “business has dropped off by about 20% on a Saturday since February” and that “every game the Leafs were in the payoffs would most likely double an average nights revenue if not more. A couple of rounds of playoff hockey in Toronto could literally keep a struggling business open for an extra year.”

Maybe next year will be better.

The Leafs did sign, after all, undrafted NCAA sniper, and the pride of Hamilton, Spencer Abbott to an entry level contract.

No offence to Spencer. And not to be crabby, but it may take more than that for Crabby Joe’s signage in Bolton to be more positive next season.